Vegas Lies ( Lies Mystery Thriller Series Book 3)

by Andrew Cunningham

  “Time to go pick up Mo,” she said.

  Maybe Mo could shed some light on who this mysterious man was.

  We could only hope.

  Chapter 5

  The girls weren’t stupid and they weren’t careless. They knew the dangers that existed in the world. But they were also young, and with youth comes inexperience.

  So when they saw the small man in the ill-fitting suit, eyeglasses pushed up on top of his head, sitting in the open rear doorway of his white van sobbing his eyes out, they were intrigued. He looked harmless enough and he seemed to be in genuine distress.

  They were on the opposite side of the lonely road. A little closer to downtown it would have been considered a residential street, the beginning of what was planned to be the newer part of town. But finding buyers for most of the lots had been hard, leaving it devoid of residences this far down. But the road made a perfect cut-through from one area of the town to another.

  The movie had let out a few minutes earlier and the girls had promised to be home by ten. They had twenty minutes left, but less than a quarter mile to go. They all lived on the same small street in the small town of Vista, Oregon, and had for most of their lives. Their parents didn’t need to pick them up. After all, it was a safe town and who was going to bother a group of five girls?

  “You okay?” asked Emma, the most outgoing of the group.

  “I’ll … be … okay,” said the man, choking on his words.

  They had inched closer and were now in the middle of the road.

  He had regained some composure. “It’s my cat. I was told I was violating the terms of my lease by having him and I’ve been ordered to get rid of him. He’s an old cat and if I take him to the animal shelter, they’ll put him down. I was going to let him go, but he’ll die on his own.”

  Emma could see a cat carrier next to him with a form inside.

  “Can’t you find a different place to live?” she asked.

  “Can’t afford it.” His face lit up. “Would any of you like a cat? He’s very sweet. It would make me so happy to see him in a good home.”

  “My parents wouldn’t let me,” said Emma.

  “My mom might,” said Lucy. “Could I see him?”

  “Gladly.”

  He turned and fiddled with the zipper of the carrier.

  “Always sticks,” he said in a soft voice, but just barely loud enough for them to hear. They crowded around closer.

  Suddenly, several pairs of arms lifted the girls and threw them into the back of the van, the doors shutting quickly behind them. The whole abduction took less than five seconds, with the girls too stunned to react. They heard the front doors of the van open and then close, and then the engine started and the van was moving.

  The reality of the situation suddenly hit them and they started screaming, hoping beyond hope that someone … anyone … would hear them. When they felt the road suddenly become rough, they knew no one would hear their screams. They were now on Sunset Lane, a dirt road only traveled by a few local farmers. But they continued screaming nonetheless.

  After five minutes, they felt the van slow down and veer off to the side. It stopped, but continued to idle. The back doors opened and two very large men stood blocking the exit. The girls went quiet and they sat huddled together against the wall separating the cab from the back.

  “Here’s how it’s going to work,” said the bigger of the two men. He had a full black beard that made him look even larger than he was. “You girls are going to shut up or we will tape your mouths shut and tie your ankles and wrists. We have a long trip ahead of us. If you keep quiet we’ll let you stay back there without restraints. Get it?”

  “Where are you taking us?” asked Emma, trying to sound brave in spite of her fear. But she couldn’t pull it off and her voice cracked. Then the tears started to flow. She had always been seen by the others as the strongest and most outspoken one of the group, but that would do her little good here.

  “You’ll know when we get there. There won’t be a lot of bathroom breaks, so if you need to pee, now is the time. If you end up peeing your pants, that’s your problem. I’ll take you out one at a time, starting with you,” he said, pointing to Emma.

  Emma tentatively slid along the floor, all the while looking back at her friends. The big man grabbed her by the arm as she slid out, and led her over next to the van. Emma noticed that the vehicle’s lights were off.

  “Do it,” he ordered. “We don’t have a lot of time.”

  “Could I have some privacy?” she asked, trying again to sound bold but not pulling it off.

  He laughed. “Yeah, right. Lower your pants and do it right here.”

  “I … I can’t.”

  “Then you’ll pee in your pants. Let’s go.”

  The problem was, Emma badly had to pee. Going in her pants and sitting in it in the van for many hours was not appealing.

  “Okay, okay, I’ll do it.”

  With the big man tightly holding her arm, she undid her belt, unzipped her jeans, and lowered her pants and underwear. As she squatted, she looked up to see the man smiling at her. It was an evil smile. She could tell that he was getting a lot of enjoyment from it. Her head was at the level of his crotch and she could see a bulge in his pants. Suddenly she felt sick. She quickly finished up and pulled up her pants. He escorted her back to the van and next took Lucy, then Hannah, then Lindy, and finally Rebecca.

  They were back on their way in about fifteen minutes, each girl wondering what kind of hell they had fallen into.

  Chapter 6

  The cat in the carrier had turned out to be a stuffed animal, and not a very good likeness of a cat at that. However, it provided comfort to Rebecca, who sat clutching it. At thirteen, she was the youngest by a year and the most fragile of the group.

  They had been on the road for five hours. They knew that by now the police had been called and a search was underway. Emma had seen enough police dramas to know that the police would do roadblocks, bring in helicopters, and would have already called in the FBI. It was too late. They were far away and judging by the feel of the ride, were sticking to back roads.

  The first hour was filled with a lot of repetitive phases, such as “I’m scared,” “I want to go home,” “Where are they taking us?” and “What’s going to happen to us?” But the talking slowly faded away. What was there to say? Eventually, one by one, they fell asleep, weariness overcoming fear.

  They all awoke with a start. The van had stopped. The doors opened and the big man got in and closed the doors behind him. It was dark outside and pitch black inside, but the man had a flashlight. He also carried a bucket and a roll of toilet paper.

  “We’ve stopped near a 24-hour fast food joint. The food is probably crap, but we’re hungry and you must be too. If you stay quiet, you’ll get food. If you start screaming, hoping someone will hear you, one of you will get slashed.” He pulled out a big knife. “Probably you,” he said, pointing to Rebecca, who immediately started crying. Emma put her arm around her. The man continued, “And then you will be no good to us, so we will dump your body somewhere along the road. You get it?”

  They all nodded.

  “You stay quiet and you can all eat. You make noise and this one dies.”

  “I have to pee,” said Hannah in a scared voice.

  “That’s why I brought the bucket. When we get moving again, use the bucket. At some point we’ll stop and empty it. It’ll stink back here, but hey, this ain’t the Ritz.”

  A minute later a knock came at the door. The big man opened it and the little man with glasses—now without his glasses—handed in several bags of food and five large sodas.

  “Bon appetite,” said the big man. He slid out the back and slammed the door shut.

  They weren’t very hungry, but they ate anyway. Rebecca finally stopped crying and picked at her food. They took turns using the bucket and in no time the back of the van stunk. They were beyond the point of caring. A deep depression
had set in. They were now imagining the worst. They knew the stories. This wasn’t just some joyride by a bunch of bored guys. This was real. They had plans for the girls. Were they going to be sold into prostitution? Emma couldn’t think of any other reason for them being abducted. There was that crazy guy in Cleveland and that one in Utah who had both kept girls as their own for years. No, this was different. These guys weren’t crazy. They had a plan.

  A few hours earlier they were enjoying a movie and talking about boys. Now their lives might be essentially over.

  Emma knew that the others were looking to her for leadership, so in the darkness, she moved to a wall away from her friends, put her face in her hands, and quietly cried. She was trying to hold it together, but was failing miserably. Sometimes in the past when she would get overly stressed, she would start to panic. She would have trouble breathing, which would lead to choking. Her parents had her checked out for asthma, but it wasn’t that. Her doctor said that they were just bad panic attacks. She had medication for it, but chose not to use it when she felt an attack coming on. She was trying to learn how to control them by quieting her mind.

  She could feel a mild one coming on now. She couldn’t let that happen. She closed her eyes and tried to concentrate only on her breathing. Her tears disappeared as she was able to regain her breath. She was lucky it hadn’t been a more serious attack. When she was in control again, her fear had turned into determination.

  Somehow, someway, she was going to find a way to escape.

  Chapter 7

  Their nightmare in the back of the van went on forever. The vehicle would stop occasionally for gas and/or food. Always the van would stop ahead of the gas station and one of the men would get in the back with them, warning them of the dire consequences that would befall them if they made a sound. Then the van would drive to the gas station, fill up, and leave. Mission accomplished, out of sight of the gas station and in a quiet place, it would stop again and the man would get out. That was when the girls would get food and their bucket would be emptied.

  After this had happened a couple of times, Emma spoke to her friends.

  “We have to try to get out of here. We don’t know where they are taking us or what they’re going to do with us when we get there, so we need to escape.”

  “They said they’d hurt Rebecca,” said Hannah.

  “I think they were just trying to scare us,” answered Emma.

  “They scared me,” said Rebecca. “I don’t want them to hurt me.”

  “I don’t think they will,” said Emma. “They want us. They wouldn’t be taking us all this way if they didn’t.”

  “Maybe it’s better to do as they say,” said Lindy.

  “And then what?” asked Emma. “What do you think they’re going to do to us? Have any of you thought of that?” She got no response. “I’ve been thinking about it a lot. Look at us. Five young girls. We could all be considered pretty. They are probably assuming we are all virgins—which we are. There are rich people in other countries who would pay someone a lot of money to supply them with girls like us. And then what happens when they get tired of us? The thought of that is even worse.”

  “Emma, you’re scaring me,” said Rebecca.

  “I’m trying to scare you. We need to be scared, because if we don’t do something, our lives will be over. Our parents can look for us all they want, but they will never find us.”

  The other girls were quiet while they digested what Emma was telling them.

  “Maybe they have something else in mind,” said Lindy. “Maybe they’re just holding us for ransom and will give us back when our parents pay them.”

  “Do any of our parents have that kind of money?” asked Emma. “Most kidnap victims are never returned.” She didn’t know if that was true, but she needed her friends to think the worst. “Can any of you think of any ending that’s going to be good for us? Because I sure can’t.”

  “So what do we do?” Lucy finally asked.

  “I think the only chance we have is to rush them when they open the door. We won’t all get out, but maybe one or two of us will and we can go for help.”

  Emma’s plan was met with lukewarm reception at first, but eventually she was able to convince them that it was their only option. An hour later, they once again came to a stop. Based on the last time they had stopped, Emma knew that it was dark out. By her calculations, they had been on the road almost twenty-four hours.

  “You ready?” she asked the others. She got a few nods and they all stood up and prepared to rush the door.

  They heard steps along the side of the van, and then someone putting a key in the back lock. The doors opened and the five girls all rushed the two men at the same time. They were scared now, so as they reached the men, they kicked and punched and screamed.

  It caught the two men by surprise, but they were fast on their feet. One of them caught Rebecca and Lindy before they even made it out the door. The other three made it into the night air, but Lucy and Hannah, running together, were pursued by the other man. He grabbed them both and brought them back to the van, one girl under each arm. Emma was the only one able to get away. She jumped into a ditch by the side of the road and knelt there quietly.

  The men had picked their spot well. They had pulled way off to the side of another lonely road with almost nonexistent traffic. Emma knew that finding help would be hard.

  Her four friends were piled back into the van and the doors were shut. The two men stood at the rear of the vehicle, shining flashlights near where they thought Emma would be.

  “C’mon little girl,” one of them called out. “You have nowhere to go and we’re not leaving without you, so come on back.”

  Emma didn’t say a word. She heard one whisper to the other and that one opened the back of the van and got in. He emerged a moment later with a screaming Rebecca.

  “I told you that if you tried anything, we’d slash your friend. Now you don’t want that, do you? Because we will do it.”

  Emma stayed silent. Would they really do something to Rebecca?

  “Okay, just know that what happens to your friend is on your head.”

  One of them pointed a flashlight at Rebecca while the other held her and pulled out a knife. He put it to Rebecca’s throat.

  “Noooo,” Rebecca screamed. “Emma, don’t let them hurt me.”

  Emma was torn. Staying free might be the only way to save herself and her friends, but now she had doubts. Would they really hurt Rebecca? She could see the tip of the blade poking into Rebecca’s throat. Rebecca let out another scream.

  “Okay, okay,” Emma said, standing up in the ditch. “Please stop! I’ll come back. Please don’t hurt her.” She climbed out of the ditch.

  The man had lowered the knife. Emma expected to see a trickle of blood running down Rebecca’s neck, but there was none. She was pretty sure he wouldn’t have hurt her, but the man was right. If something had happened to Rebecca, Emma would never forgive herself.

  “Smart girl,” said the man. He opened the back and, when Emma had gotten close enough, he grabbed her by the scruff of the neck and threw her into the van, finding some choice spots to touch on her body as he was doing it. Rebecca followed a moment later.

  “We’re not going to tape your wrists this time,” said the man, “but don’t try it again.”

  He slammed the door and they were once again alone. Nobody said anything, and even though Emma couldn’t see her friends, she knew they were looking away from her. She had tried the only thing she could think of, and it hadn’t worked.

  Now there was no hope at all.

  Chapter 8

  Mo’s plane came in pretty much on time. I was usually happy to see Mo. She was vibrant, interesting, confident, and fun-loving. Today, however, I was not at all looking forward to seeing her. The last time we had talked, shortly before her plane took off, she was in tears and was borderline hysterical. No, this wasn’t going to be fun at all.

  We met her in baggage
claim and she fell into Sabrina’s arms, sobbing uncontrollably. It was a side of Mo I had never seen before. In fact, it was a side I hadn’t even known existed. We all sat on a bench until Mo was able to regain her composure. And then she seemed like the Mo of old, minus the fun-loving part. Once the tears were gone, she was all business and wanted all the details we had on Peep’s disappearance.

  We told her about the incident at the trade show and of checking out the headquarters of the company.

  “Are you sure Peep knew the guy?” she asked.

  “According to the vendor in the next booth,” I said. I proceeded to quote some of the words and phrases we were told she had used. “Sounds to me like she knew him.”

  “Did the vendor describe him?” she asked.

  “Her co-worker did,” said Sabrina. “She said he looked like an ex-football player and that he was tall—maybe 6’5” or so.”

  The color drained from Mo’s face.

  “Are you serious?”

  “Why?” I asked.

  “Because you’ve just described her ex-husband.”

  “Peep was married?” I asked.

  “That’s what the term ‘ex-husband’ would indicate, you nimrod.”

  Believe it or not, that was said with affection … at least I hoped it was.

  “So what’s the story?” I asked.

  “Later,” she said, standing up. “While we drive. I want to see that building.”

  I didn’t. Once was enough. But the two of them had already started off through the terminal with a purpose. I slowly got up and followed.

  Mo only had a carry-on. Good thing. Even after sitting with Mo for a while, the baggage still hadn’t arrived. Oh, how I loved airports.

  When we got to the car, Sabrina sat in the back seat with Mo. I started the car, backed out of the spot, and tried to find my way out of the airport.

  Mo began. “Peep was married for a very short time. She got married young—like twenty. I think it lasted less than two years. The guy the co-worker described as looking like an ex-football player was an ex-football player … kind of. Richard something-or-other was his name. He bounced around the NFL for a couple of years, but only ever made the practice squad of a few teams. He finally called it quits and became an entrepreneur of sorts, getting into one business after another. It didn’t occur to Peep until after Richard disappeared that he had only married Peep because her family had money. The marriage was on rocky ground a few months into it. That’s when Richard’s true colors started to show. Or at least, that’s when Peep began to see them. Every business he tried failed pretty quickly. He wasn’t above cheating people out of their investments. Peep said he didn’t care.”